ADVENTURES IN ADVAITA VEDANTA...

Adventures in Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy and science of spirit. We are one you and I; are you curious why?..


Art of Supplication

Hari OM

Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!

VEDANTA IN ACTION.
This is the title of a publication from CM which, whilst it of course has items by Gurudev, also includes selections of writing from other well-esteemed Gurus from the Vedantic tradition as well as leading businessmen. Its focus is the working life. We shall be exploring these essays for the next few weeks on Workings-day as, clearly, they pertain directly to the premise of this section of AVBlog! As ever, you  are encouraged to read back over previous posts, to ensure full benefit.

Part 1; Vedanta in Management.

The Secrets to Profit (Gurudev) cont'd. - an excerpt from a talk given 4/16/1980 to the AGM of the Bombay Industries Assocn.

Applying Gita's Principles to Today's World. 

This macro-vision is not new in history. We find it taught even in the ancient Vedic scriptures. In fact, it is this macro-view which enabled the Indian civilization to survive the natural declines and again rise up to glory. It is because of this vision that, despite much calamity, the Indian culture has remained precious. Many are the cultures elsewhere that have come up, sparkled for a while, then died away completely. Where is the Greek culture today? The Roman, the Egyptian, the Macedonian? The countries may remain, but the glorious cultures they once were are long gone, existing only in libraries and artifacts.

In India, the culture has continued because of the macro-view of Hindu philosophy. However, after four to five hundred years of foreign rule, the culture has been damaged. Those who were entrusted with carrying forward the teachings and laws, the Brahmins, failed in their duties to society. Other members of society thus remained ignorant of their glorious worth. We cannot hold anyone to blame now - it is a phenomenon which is inevitable in the world of space and time, where nothing remains permanently. The Hindu scriptures contain great knowledge that enables civilizations to adapt to those changing times (not just Indian civilization, note, for the principles are universal.) Those scriptures are not ignorant of the need for economics and politics. In fact, they have precious insights regarding both.

Many industrial and technical men have benefited by reading them. Great thinkers in the West are studying the scriptures of the East and bringing out new insights, new politics, new industrial visions and new attitudes in life based upon the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, or the Dhammapaada of the Buddhists.  These books are becoming more and more attractive to the Western scholars. Western man is pursuing this study to learn how to tune up and readjust the mind and thus reduce the stresses and strains of the modern technological age.

In India today, most people still practice religion, though at a superficial level. If you go to any industrial complex in India, large or small, you will find many pictures of the Lord in His many faces, with an incense stick lit beside. Those industrialist seem to be deeply devoted; but if you listen to the prayers offered you will hear, "Lord I am giving you incense, yet you don't give me anything!" The devotee then sits there before the Lord and starts 'cutting throats' in the thrust of business. If profits are not good, he loses his faith. It is all because of misunderstanding what faith in God is.  There is some form of faith. Externally it is there, but the tuning up of the mind and the spirit of surrender are absent.  God must be made the proprietor. Too much? Okay, make Him a one-penny partner in your business, with no voting power. Let Him also sit in at your board meetings. Lord is so clever, that if you make him a one-penny partner, within six months you will find that He becomes the managing director!
"Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice; have mercy also upon me and answer me. When thou saidst 'seek ye My face', my heart said unto thee 'Thy face Lord will I seek." (Psalms 27; 7&8)
Try it. Surrender your worries to Him - genuinely. You will find that your mental weakness, exhaustion and fatigue reduce and your mind becomes calm and serene. When the mind is thus, your efficiency increases; your performance, attitude towards others, vision of life, coping in challenges… all these change into a new tempo and beauty.  With these inner qualities, your activities gather a momentum that cannot but attract success in this material world.